


Wishful Thinking

by Chash



Series: If You Need Us [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Labyrinth Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 10:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4702745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The labyrinth gets a lot more use than Clarke anticipated, post Octavia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wishful Thinking

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be mostly about Octavia wishing Bellamy into the Labyrinth, but then it kind of became about families, so, whatever.
> 
> Liz there's a baby in this fic.

The first time Octavia wishes Bellamy away, all the goblins are really excited about it.

"You can make it really hard for her!" says Thunk.

"Octavia will never make it through!" adds Brunner, and then frowns, like he's thinking hard. "Just because her legs are short. She is very smart. But slow. So she'll lose!"

"And then you get to keep him!"

Clarke smiles, pats Thunk on the head, and goes to sit next to her boyfriend.

"So, what did you do?"

He glares half-heartedly. "Who says I did anything?"

She draws her knees up to her chest and rests her cheek against them, smiling at him. They've been together for five years, and Clarke's as fond of him as ever. She also knows him pretty well, both him and Octavia. He'll wish her away every few weeks, for _fun_ \--Octavia likes hanging out with the goblins, and Bellamy thinks the labyrinth is a pretty awesome way to spend a day. His record solve is nine hours, twelve minutes, and he's been trying to beat that for eight months. But this is the first time Octavia's done the same to him.

After only a few seconds of her looking at him, he groans and flops back onto the stone floor of the castle. "She wants me to get a two-piece bathing suit for her birthday. She's turning _ten_." Clarke cracks up, and he glares at her. "It's not funny!"

"Is it, like, revealing?"

"This from the girl in the dominatrix leotard."

"I didn't wear this when I was ten." She pauses. "Well, okay, sometimes. For fun. I like dressing up."

"I had no idea." He scrubs his face. "I don't know, it's not, like--why does she care about having a two-piece suit? Who's she trying to impress?"

"Maybe her friends all have them," Clarke says. "Or maybe she just likes it. It doesn't have to be for anyone but her."

"It's not, like, stringy, it's just--I don't know. Why can't she just want a Barbie for her birthday? Or a trip to a magical other realm ruled by my awesome girlfriend? Not a bikini."

"You get her trips to the magical realm all the time," Clarke points out.

"Yeah, but--one with cake."

"Get her the stupid bikini, Bellamy."

He sighs. "Yeah, I know. Are you going to make her do the labyrinth?"

"She can do it if she wants. I'll ask her. Or I could just keep you."

"You'd have to keep her too, I'm not letting her go into foster care."

She lies down next to him, resting her head against his. "She wouldn't need a bikini if she was here."

"True." He rubs his face again. "I'm just going to die when she actually starts puberty, right?"

"Probably," she says. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

*

Clarke doesn't really know if she even wants to keep Bellamy. Well, okay, of course she wants to keep Bellamy, she would marry him tomorrow if she wasn't legally dead in his world. But she doesn't really know what her plan is for actually being with him. She's going to be, obviously, but--well, he has this whole life in his world, and she doesn't know what she'd do if she left hers. Even if she's technically from his world, she doesn't even remember living there. And if she left her kingdom, there wouldn't be a Goblin Queen, and, honestly, the goblins can't take care of themselves. Even if no one ever wishes their child away again, she still has responsibilities.

And Bellamy does too. He has his sister, and he can't leave her until she turns eighteen. And even when she does, he probably doesn't want to just pack up and move. He has his own stuff going on.

They make it work. Clarke stays with him most nights, and she loves that. She loves _him_. He's beautiful and smart and makes her so happy, she doesn't even believe it. She hadn't considered relationships at all before she met him, and even if she had, she doesn't think it would have prepared her for this.

She goes with him to buy the bikini and thinks about what it would be like, to be here all the time. She'd need a job, and she doesn't really know how to do anything in the real world. She'd need money. Groceries. Insurance. A social security number.

She leans her forehead against his back. "The goblins thought I'd make Octavia fail the labyrinth to keep you."

"Seems kinda pointless," he says, easy. "You already have me."

*

Octavia doesn't wish Bellamy away often, but when she does, it's always because she thinks he's being unreasonable. And Clarke usually agrees. She thinks Bellamy appreciates it too, because sometimes he doesn't even realize they're having an argument, and he doesn't find out until he shows up in the castle and Clarke has to explain why Octavia is upset.

And then they'll make out or have sex or go explore some weird part of the labyrinth Bellamy found on one of his speed-runs and wants to get a closer look at, and Clarke thinks it could work. They never run out of things to do together here.

Not that they run out of things to do in his world. They watch movies and go to parties at his friend Miller's house, and Bellamy's teaching her to cook. They probably spend more time together than most couples. Miller and his boyfriend don't live together either, and they don't sleep together every night, and neither of them can manipulate time to get in a few extra minutes of making our before one of them has to go into work.

When Octavia is fifteen, Bellamy shows up in Clarke's lap, blinking. She's been wishing him away more recently, because, as predicted, he's struggling with her and puberty.

"Thunk thinks she's funny," Clarke remarks. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" he protests, and slides off her lap so he can pull her into his instead. It's more comfortable for both of them; Bellamy is kind of heavy. "She said she had a date and sent me away before I could say anything."

"That sounds like the right call."

"I don't mind." Clarke gives him a completely unconvinced look, and he laughs. "Seriously! She's been talking about this guy for months, and he's probably fine. We met him at her gymnastics thing. Atom? Dumb name, but, you know. He was polite and scared of us. I knew it was coming."

"Wow, it's almost like you're a mature adult or something."

"Right?" He nuzzles her hair. "That reminds me, do you want to get married?"

Clarke's heart stops, and then starts again, wild and desperate. "You don't even have a ring?" she asks, keeping her voice light.

He turns red. "Oh, uh--I wasn't--that wasn't a proposal. I, uh--I know I'm not great at romance, but I'd do better than that." He rubs the back of his neck. "I just wanted--I didn't know if you wanted to. Like, at all."

Clarke lets out a laugh, relieved, and slumps against him. "Oh. Okay. I really wasn't prepared for that."

"Sorry," says Bellamy, laughing too. "Miller, uh--I mean, we've been together for ten years, so he was like, what are you doing, she's going to be pissed if you don't propose soon, it's not like anyone thinks you're not going to marry her. But--I didn't know if you wanted to."

"I'm legally dead," Clarke reminds him. "I don't think I can get married."

He smiles a little. "Okay, so it's not legal. We could still do it. Just--I want to be married to you. We could do it here or just have our own ceremony or whatever. We'll figure something out. If you want."

Clarke leans her head against his shoulder. "What are we gonna do, Bell?"

"Uh." He frowns. "That wasn't a question about getting married, was it?"

"I just--we don't even live in the same world, Bellamy. Are we going to just--stay like this forever? Don't you want to marry somebody who isn't lying about their whole life to your friends? Miller thinks I work in consulting."

"Oh, that," he says, dismissive, and Clarke has to laugh. "I don't know. I figured we'd talk about it once O's set. I could live here, right?"

He says it so easily. "You could?"

"You're not gonna stop me, are you?"

"No, but--you want to? You've got a job and friends and--"

"I could do stuff here. There's tons to do here. I could still see my friends. And Octavia." He rubs his thumb against her side. "You can't come live with me, you're the Goblin Queen. So I'll come to you. Once O's in college. Three more years."

Clarke swallows hard, buries her face against his chest. She feels like she might cry. It's not like they've never discussed it, but--it's usually kind of vague. Bellamy always seemed confident they'd be together, and Clarke was too, because she's the Goblin Queen, and she loves him, and she won't be giving him up anytime soon. Queens get to keep the people they want to keep. That's how it works.

He's referenced being the Goblin King sometimes, but it always sounded like a joke, or at least--she didn't realize he was really planning to _stay_.

She sniffles, to her embarrassment, and Bellamy cards his hand through her hair. "I don't have to--" he starts, sounding unsure.

"You're not gonna be able to keep up with all the newest phones and tablets and--"

He laughs. "Clarke."

"And there aren't any jobs and you definitely get used to the goblin smell, but you have to get used to it, and--"

He kisses her. "I love you. I like your goblins. The ruins are cool. The fireflies are awesome. We could work on the stench bog, but--"

"I like the stench bog," she says. She thinks she's laughing, but she's crying a little too. It would be embarrassing, but it's Bellamy. They've been together for ten years. He loves her. And they've both clearly been kind of stupid about this. "Of course I want to marry you, dumbass," she adds. "But I'm not in a rush or anything. Tell Miller he's an idiot."

"Always do," he says.

When he does propose, it's in the Field of Fireflies, and it's very romantic, and Clarke cries again. But that's okay, right? The guy she loves asked her to marry him. Everyone cries when that happens. It's allowed.

*

Her mother visits a few weeks after she gets engaged. 

Clarke loves her mother, but she doesn't think it's in the way she's supposed to love her. She doesn't even love her like Bellamy and Octavia love each other, and parents are supposed to be more than siblings, right? And she doesn't know how fiances are supposed to fit in there, but her mother doesn't even start to compare. She's gone years without talking to her mother and it doesn't bother her; if she doesn't see Bellamy for a few days, she gets mopey and starts to affect labyrinth weather patterns.

She and her mother do better, with breaks from each other. Clarke thinks Abby feels guilty, looking at her; she knows her mother is happier, not being her mother, and that's not the sort of thing you're supposed to feel, as a parent. But she'd been young when she had Clarke, and hadn't been ready to be a single parent when her husband died. Clarke understands, she does. Her mother didn't want her, but the goblins did.

Bellamy does. Octavia too. The world is full of people who love her. _Two_ worlds, even.

And Abby loves her too, in her strange, difficult way.

"How have you been?" her mother asks. They're having lunch in the castle. The Goblin King never comes; Clarke doesn't know what he does with his time. She doesn't really care. She's got the kingdom taken care of, and he watches her mother.

"Good. Really good." She wets her lips. "I'm going to get married. We haven't worked out the details yet."

"Oh." Abby looks surprised, which is weird, right? Clarke and Bellamy have been together for ten years. They're supposed to get married. That's what you do after ten years. It would be weirder if they didn't get married. "Will you be leaving?"

That explains it, then. Her mother is worried that she's leaving, and there won't be a Goblin Queen. She doesn't know what happens then, if the title reverts or what. Not that there's a lot of actual demand. The goblins would probably die out, but no one would wish anyone away, once the Blakes stopped doing it for fun and/or to resolve arguments.

"No," says Clarke. "He's going to come here."

Abby nods. "Good. That's--good. I've always liked him."

She has, it's true. Maybe he makes her feel less guilty, because Clarke fell for someone the same way the Goblin King fell for her mother, because Clarke understands. But Bellamy got Octavia back, so--it's not really the same. Clarke doesn't think she could really trust him, not if he'd turned his back on Octavia for her.

"Me too," she says, because what else is there to say? She's happy about it. She's glad her mom likes him, in a general kind of way. She doesn't really care, mostly. If her mother didn't like Bellamy, she'd still marry him. When you give your daughter up to goblins, you lose the right to critique her life choices. 

"Let me know when the wedding is. I'd like to come."

"It might not be much of a wedding, We haven't figured it out yet. We're waiting until Octavia's in college." Neither of them has any desire to get married and keep living apart, even if it's not _that_ apart. She offers her mother a smile. "But sure. I'll let you know."

*

Clarke did not expect to ever have anyone other than the Blakes wish someone to her. Honestly, the Blakes were a total surprise the first time too; she figured she'd never have to ever do the labyrinth thing. But she was actually more prepared for it back then, because all she'd ever though about was using it as intended. These days, she uses it for fun, which is--weird. But she doesn't want to harm Bellamy or Octavia, just give then a challenge.

John Murphy wishes his kid away, and Clarke wants to hurt him.

"I must have drunk more than I thought," says Murphy, blinking at Clarke in his window.

"What the hell were you doing drinking?" Clarke snaps. "You have a baby!"

"I can't find her," says Murphy.

"No shit, dumbass." She should maybe try for regal and imposing, but she's out of practice with that. Besides, she's older now. She doesn't feel like she's dressing up as the Goblin Queen; she _is_ the Goblin Queen, and she's going to make this asshole regret all his life choices. And she can do that without trying to sound scary. "You told the goblins to take her."

"And, what, you're the goblins?" he sneers.

"I'm in management," she says. "Goblins aren't much for conversation."

"So, what, you just took the kid? By magic?"

"You wished her away."

His mouth twists into a humorless smile. "I've made a lot of wishes, lady."

She almost feels sorry for him, but-- "You aren't even going to ask how to get her back?"

"I don't want her back," he says, and Clarke's blood runs cold.

"She's your daughter," Clarke says. Her mother _tried_. She's never known what the Goblin King said to persuade her, but he had to say something.

"Her mom came and dropped her off two weeks ago, said she was my problem now. Fuck, I don't even know if she's really my kid. We slept together like twice. If you want to take her, fucking take her. Better you than me. She doesn't sleep and she shits all the time."

Clarke is tempted to dump him in the Bog of Eternal Stench, but she's not really just allowed to do that without getting them to decide to try the labyrinth first. Instead, she opens and shuts her mouth a few times and then says, "If you don't fight for her now, you'll never see her again. Never."

"Good riddance," he says, and staggers out of the room.

Clarke's still too stunned to move for a long moment, and then she goes to Bellamy.

"I got a kid," she says, collapsing onto the couch next to him.

"Like, at the store?"

"This drunk guy wished his daughter away. He just--he told me to take her. He didn't want her. He didn't even want to try."

"Jesus. How old?"

"I don't know. A year? I didn't really see her much. The goblins are watching her. Can you come with me? I've never actually--I don't know anything about babies."

"Yeah, let me just tell Octavia." He pecks her on the cheek before he goes. "We'll be fine, Clarke."

"Child out of wedlock," she says, with a wry smile.

"It's what we get, for all the sex out of wedlock," he says, and Clarke lets herself breathe again.

*

The goblins are very excited.

"She's so tiny! And she's smiling at me!"

"She's smiling at me!"

"Jesus Christ, let me hold her," Bellamy says, all fond amusement. He likes the goblins. "I'll give her back."

The goblins give her up reluctantly, and Bellamy rocks her against his chest. Clarke feels like her body is too small, watching his delicate hold on the child. It's easy to forget he's been doing this for his whole life.

"She's probably like--seven months? Do you know her name?"

Clarke closes her eyes, lets the magic reach out. She doesn't really know how it works, but she knows things about the people who are wished to her, if she cares to look. Knows things about the people who make the wishes too, or can know. She's never tried it before, because she's only had Bellamy and Octavia, and she can't--well, she just can't. She only wants to know what they tell her.

"Anne," she says, opening her eyes.

"Anne," Bellamy repeats, smiling at the child. "You're gonna be a Goblin Princess, Anne."

*

The goblins watch Anne when they get married. Octavia performs the ceremony, a week before she leaves for college. She told everyone she got ordained online, and it's not like anyone is going to debate them about the legality of their marriage. She cannot imagine any of their friends suspect it's a ceremony in name only because Clarke died when she was a baby.

They have another ceremony in the labyrinth, in the Field of Fireflies, because Bellamy's fairy friends and Clarke's goblins and everyone else they know in the Goblin Kingdom wants to celebrate too. And that one's real, because Clarke's the highest authority in the kingdom, and she says so. No one can tell her she's not really married to him. She will put them in the bog so fast they won't know what hit them.

Abby holds Anne through the reception, and it makes Clarke's heart twist, she thinks in a good way. Abby might not have been ready to be a mother, but maybe she's ready to be--well, not exactly a grandmother, but something very close to that.

She's not alone, she thinks, with a sudden pang. She hasn't felt alone in a long time. The goblins did their best, but it wasn't like having _friends_. Not like having a husband and a sister-in-law and a social group, a kid and maybe even a mother.

Family, Clarke thinks. The word for that is _family_.

"So, am I the Goblin King yet?" Bellamy asks, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Raven is DJing with Bellamy's tablet, and the dancing is--well, everyone really _loves_ dancing, and that's the important thing, right? They're cute and they're having fun. They need to explain the whole situation to Miller and Monty, so they can come to the next one. Monty has probably seen weirder things when he's high. They'd enjoy themselves.

"You're just using me for the magic powers, aren't you?"

"Can I still speed-run the labyrinth if I'm the Goblin King, or is that cheating?"

"You're thirty-three, Bell," she says, amused. "You're getting too old to speed-run the labyrinth anyway."

"We've been married for like ten minutes and you're already cramping my style," he says.

"Just wait until I tell you you can't move any of the stuff in my magical castle to make room for your man cave."

"I'm glad we've been together for thirteen years and all your slang is still incredibly dated. But you've finally hit the decade we met, so--I'm proud of you."

Clarke laughs and squeezes his arm. "I knew we'd get there eventually."

"Yeah," Bellamy agrees. "Eventually."

*

Octavia's boyfriend, Lincoln, proposes twenty years after Bellamy first wished his sister to the labyrinth, and apparently Octavia, instead of just saying yes, went with _I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now_ , because being overdramatic runs in the family.

Clarke is, of course, including herself in the family. She brings the wind and the fog and everything. This is a big deal. She's going all-out.

"Mom, I'm trying to read," Anne says. She has her sister in her lap with Bellamy is supervising. As it turns out, he's happy with the magical powers, but he's not willing to make his hair big enough to really go full Goblin King. "Can't you do this outside or something?"

"Sorry," Clarke tells Lincoln. "We didn't know you were coming. You must be Lincoln, right? We've heard a lot about you. We've been looking forward to meeting you." Lincoln gapes helplessly at her for a long minute, and Clarke can't really blame him. "Will you go get your sister?" she asks Bellamy. "She is not allowed to just abandon us with this conversation."

"You're always making me use my powers for good," he grumbles, getting up and coming over to look at Lincoln. On the one hand, Lincoln is a lot larger than he is. On the other hand, Bellamy's a literal magical being, so he can probably actually be genuinely threatening if he wants to be. "My sister likes you," is what he says.

"I like her too," Lincoln manages.

"Good," Bellamy says. "You can stay for dinner." And then he turns into an owl and flies off.

Lincoln looks like he might fall over, and Clarke can't really blame him. She pats his arm. "Don't worry, that's on my side of the family. You just have to worry about getting sent to an alternate universe when you get in arguments."

"That makes me feel so much better," he says, with a wry smile.

"It's okay, it's really simple," Anne says. "It's in this book. You can come read it with us, if you want. Aunt Octavia loves it too. So she'll want you to read it."

Lincoln looks at Clarke again, and she smiles. "This is the family," she says, with just a hint of steel. "Take it or leave it."

He nods, and when Bellamy and Octavia show up, he has both girls in his lap, listening intently as Anne reads him the story of how her parents met, and how her parents got her. Or a variation on it.

"He seems like a good one," Clarke tells Octavia.

"Did he faint? I was kind of hoping he was going to faint. Not, you know, in a bad way. I've just never seen anyone faint, and he's really tall, so it would probably be funny."

"Nope, just quietly terrified."

"Can I tell him we have a stench bog?" Bellamy asks. "Just to intimidate him a little."

"You have magical powers, Bell, he's already intimidated," Octavia says. "Plus, I wished him into an alternate dimension. If this doesn't scare him off, he doesn't deserve to be scared." She pecks her brother on the cheek. "I let you marry the Goblin Queen, you're going to give me this one."

"Fine," he says, and he can't keep the smile off his face as he watches her go and sit with her fiance and her nieces.

"She did all right, for a kid who got stolen by goblins," Clarke observes.

"So did you," Bellamy says. "And Anne and Julie are doing pretty well too." He kisses her hair. "I think you were right. You could do a lot worse than being raised by goblins."

"Trolls," Clarke says, straight-faced, and Bellamy laughs.

"Exactly," he agrees. "We're so much better than trolls."


End file.
